Collaboration at Operations and Supply Chain Management

The Operations and Supply Chain Management unit is actively participating in various projects, both nationally and internationally. In the past few years O & SCM has been a lead partner in several EU-funded projects and conducted several studies commissioned by various ministries and agencies. The unit also collaborates with the World Bank.

Projects

Finland State of Logistics

The state of Finnish logistics and the outlook on future development have been regularly studied for over 30 years. The Ministry of Transport and Communications in Finland conducted the first national logistics survey in 1992.

The supply chain management research team at Turku School of Economics has, in cooperation with the Finnish Transport Agency and previously with the Ministry of Transport and Communications, been responsible for conducting the survey since 2006. Since then, the execution of the survey has been similar, which allows for comparability with several central timelines until 2005. It is possible to compare the costs of logistics as part of the national economy until the beginning of 1990’s.

The focus group of the logistics survey are Finnish manufacturing and trade companies, as well as logistics companies. The number of responses have been over 2700 at best. The surveys have included most of the focus group companies when measuring with turnover.

Information regarding the logistics survey has been assembled on this page.

REISFER (Reducing CO₂ emissions in island ferry traffic)

Nine partners join forces to decarbonize island ferry transport in the Central Baltic region

Ferry connections between the mainland and islands of the Central Baltic form an important part of the intermodal transport chains linking islands to mainland. The international REISFER project (2024–2027) aims to improve the intermodal nodes in island ferry traffic by reducing CO₂ emissions by 10–20 % on selected routes in Estonia, Finland and Åland, and Sweden.

The low-carbon fuels and electrification of ferries are developing fast. Additionally, the organizational improvements of the whole ferry transport system (e.g. routing, scheduling, enhanced digitalisation) along with different technological improvements can provide significant potential to decrease CO₂ emissions. In REISFER, these elements are explored jointly through several pilot activities to provide added value and cost-efficiency to each partner.

REISFER includes 9 partners from three Baltic Sea region countries – Estonia, Finland (including the Åland islands) and Sweden:

Lead Partner Estonian Maritime Academy of Tallinn University of Technology, contact Kadi Kasepõld (kadi.kasepold@taltech.ee) and Ulla Tapaninen (ulla.tapaninen@taltech.ee)
University of Turku (FI), contact Minna-Liina Ojala (milioj@utu.f)
Blidösundsbolaget (SE)
Kihnu Veeteed (EE)
FinFerries (FI)
Estonian State Fleet (EE)
Government of Åland (AX)
Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (SE)
Suomenlinnan Liikenne Oy (FI)

The project is co-funded by the Interreg Central Baltic Programme 2021–2027 of the European Union. The project will run from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2027, and its progress can be followed here.

POPCORN (Preventing Oil and Plastics Contamination of Ocean Regions of the North)

POPCORN, Preventing Oil and Plastics Contamination of Ocean Regions of the North, was a clustering project of EU's Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme. POPCORN brought together four completed projects with a focus on maritime pollution issues: OIL SPILL, APP4SEA, Blue Circular Economy and Circular Ocean. Each of these project focused either on oil spills or plastic pollution. POPCORN shared the outcomes and best practices of the individual projects with new regions and organisations. POPCORN was led from the University of Oulu, and the partner institutions were University of Turku, North Highland College (Scotland), and Norwegian Meteorological Institute.

Follow POPCORN on Twitter!

POPCORN logo

NPA Programme logo

OIL SPILL (Enhancing oil spill response capabilities in the BSR)

OIL SPILL enhances oil spill response capability in the Baltic Sea Region (2019–2021)

Unlike in the open sea and international waters, combatting oil spills in shallow waters and coastal areas is often complicated. The division of tasks and responsibilities between Competent Authorities and other stakeholders, such as NGOs, is often unclear.

The OIL SPILL project was strengthened the oil spill response capability in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) by enhancing cooperation structures, procedures and skills between and within the relevant stakeholders.

The project had 13 Project Partners from six BSR countries. The University of Turku was the Lead Partner. In addition, seven Associated Organizations supported the project implementation and took part in the project activities.

HAZARD improved safety & security in Baltic Sea Region Ports (2016–2019)

By bringing together Rescue Services, other authorities, logistics operators and established knowledge partners, HAZARD project mitigated the effects of emergencies in major seaports in the Baltic Sea Region.

The project enabled better preparedness, coordination and communication, more efficient actions to reduce damages and loss of life in emergencies, and handling of post-emergency situation.

The HAZARD project consortium included 14 Project Partners and 13 Associated Organizations. The University of Turku was the Lead Partner.